Workplace Communication

Ryne St. Clair

BCOM 214

Marisa Michaels

December 6, 2017
Workplace communication is an ever-changing task that needs constant evaluation and
improvement. Using information from a group of articles, the following is a summary of
workplace communication that should update and enlighten on the subject. First the focus is on
the state of workplace communication, then the new ways to communicate, and finally the future
implantation of technology in the workplace.

State of Workplace Communication

The workplace of today is becoming more and more reliant on technology. This does not change
the fact that effective communication in the workplace is one of main ways a company can be
successful. This change in norms is the merely something that needs to be recognized and
accepted in order to be competitive and ultimately successful. As students from generation z are
entering the work force, professionals are having to adjust. Communication within the
workplace is now focused on being concise and fast. Employees need information quickly to be
competitive because if they miss out on something, another company or even coworker could use
the same information to do something productive. With technology further increasing efficiency
in almost all processes within organizations, good communication still maintains its position as
an intricate part of effective business. With improvements in online communication with instant
messenger services, email and video chat, employees do not even need to be in the same
building, let alone the same country to get work done. This can make communication seem
easier but in also can introduce a whole new host of issues. When you do not have the face to
face interaction between a manager and their employee the message could be left open to
interpretation. The facial expressions, tone and emphasis on certain parts of the message could
be misinterpreted. Web cams and video chat help with this but then you are dependent on the
service working well and no technical difficulties. A whole other issue with today’s work place
communication involves the frontline staff who have the most interaction with a company’s
customers. An estimate by the Bureau of Labor Statistics believes that over 75 million American
hourly-wage workers perform deskless work (Hannah, 2017). This leaves them without access
to the instant messaging, email and video chat. High-level managers do not have an easy way to
communicate with these employees. Another possible way to communicate with employees in
the workplace would be with smart phones. According to the New York Times, in the United
States, 97 percent of those between the ages of 18 to 34, and 94 percent of those between the
ages of 35-49 have access to a smart phone (Hannah, 2017). Putting employees on an email list
just to give them a weekly newsletter would be a possible way to keep them up to date on
activities throughout the organization. A company could even go a step further and introduce
some kind of mobile app strictly for employees. Dynamic Signal researched this idea and found
that 55 percent of employees said a mobile app would help them be more informed and engaged
with their company (Hannah, 2017). It is very possible to be productive in todays day and age of
technology, but top-level managers need to try different ways to communicate and then focus on
constant improvement on the process they find the most effective.
New Ways to Communicate

As the younger generations and new technology get introduced to the work force, organizations
must adjust to the change in communication style. Many jobs now are ‘deskless’ or are mobile
due to improvements in technology (Hannah, 2017). These kinds of employees require a
different approach when communicating with them since they are usually active and don’t have
the same communication system as management level employees. The increasing talk of a
‘digital workplace’ represents this change. To be successful in such an environment,
organizations must use this idea in a flexible, engaging and intelligent way that encourages their
employees to utilize the system (Rozwell, 2017). All the new ways technology can be
implemented within an organization opens up many possibilities for future workplace
communication (Vaughan, 2017). One of the newest ways and possibly the best to communicate
effectively right now would be, video. If companies could utilize this technology in an
innovative way that is user friendly, communicating within the workplace could be completely
reworked across industries. Just look at the mind-boggling stats: During 2016, Snapchat
reported users watched ten billion videos daily and Facebook said their users watched about
eight billion videos daily (Vaughan, 2017). A possible effective idea that a company could try
would be to create a Snapchat account or create its own similar service that only employees can
access. Say a manager needs to convey a few quick daily announcements and they just record a
few short Snapchat videos to send off to the created group of 25-30 of their employees. The
simplicity of this process could make workplace communication a breeze. Now, it would
possible to say that employees would not watch these videos. To refute that idea, a survey done
by HubSpot found that 55 percent of users say they consume videos “thoroughly” over skimming
them like they do with interactive articles (33 percent), blog posts (29 percent), and podcasts (17
percent) (Vaughan, 2017). Another new possible avenue for workplace communication that
builds off the idea of instant messaging is enterprise social networks, or ESNs. With so many
people on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, the idea of creating such a
space for the workplace does not seem so out of reach. Found in a McKinsey Global survey, over
the past ten years, the implementation of ESNs has increased from ten percent of companies to
around 65 percent (Vaughan, 2017). The creation of an enterprise social network could pair up
very well with the increasing trend of support of a company having its own mobile application.
Just like Twitter or Instagram, a company app on an employee’s smart phone could make
communication a breeze. Utilization of these new technologies and applications need to be
considered by all levels of managers, at all companies if they want to be ahead of the curve in the
future.

Future Implementation of Technology

With Generation Z finishing their educations and starting to join the workplace as full-time
employees, they bring changes to the workplace as well. Out of all the generations before them,
“they are the most technologically literate, socially empowered generation ever.” (Desai, 2017).
Those of generation z focus on constant improvement, removing a system they find inadequate
and implementing a new system that will do better. The future is very unclear, and it is hard to
say what the future has in store, but it is safe to say it will change. As technology continues to
improve, the workplace needs to improve itself to continue to be effective when communicating.
One possible change to workplace communication would come in the form of virtual reality, or
VR. It is not known if it will be used in the present day but who is to say it won’t be used in the
near future (Vaughan, 2017)? It could possible implemented in meetings when those involved
can’t all be in the same space. Imagine putting on googles and looking around to see all of your
coworkers around you but in reality, they are in their own workplaces. The future workplace
communication is an unknown, but it is guaranteed to change more and more.

Communication in the workplace is an ever-changing dynamic that needs to be focused on. With
the current state of the workplace today, the new ways to communicate and the future of
communication, this information should help anyone to further their knowledge and give them an
idea of how to proceed in the future.
 References
Boarcas, C. (2017) Business communication in the internet age. Economics, Management &
Financial
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Desai, P., Lele V. (2017) Correlating internet, social networks and workplace – a case of
generation z
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Hannah, R. (2017, April 18). Dynamic Signal Report: The State of Workplace Communications
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Mamouni, F. (2017). Get the (instant) message. TD: Talent Development, 71, 14. Retrieved from
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Rozwell, C. (2017). 8 Building blocks of the digital workplace. CIO, 4. Retrieved from
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Vaughan, T. (2017) Top 7 internal communication trends for 2017. Communication World, 1-4.
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